Attorney General Schneiderman creates grant program to counteract effects of acid rain

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- A new grant program has been established to help groups find ways to reverse the effects of acid rain in the Adirondacks.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman created the $400,000 Adirondack Acid Rain Recovery Program after reaching a settlement with Cinergy Corp. -- now Duke Energy Corp. -- over federal Clean Air Act violations at its Midwestern power plants.

Agencies may apply for grants to research and develop ways to restore Adirondack lakes, streams and waterways.

"Hundreds of lakes and streams in the Adirondacks are still struggling to recover from this pollution," Schneiderman said.

Advertisement

The program's purpose is to identify the most effective tools available for reversing acid rain's effects. Federal and state pollution control efforts have reduced the amount of acid rain falling on the Adirondacks, but scientists believe more than 500 bodies of water are still plagued by such damage, he said.

The bid application and award process will be administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. It is expected that some projects will involve the testing of newly designed methods for neutralizing acidity in soils and waters that kills fish and other marine life.

Acid rain is caused when air emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), generated predominately by coal-fired power plants, interact in the atmosphere to form acid compounds that fall back to earth as acid rain. When acid rain falls on the Adirondacks, it acidifies forest soils, lakes and other bodies of water.

Such damage has had a major impact on recreation and the Adirondack regional economy.

"The launch of the Adirondacks Acid Rain Recovery Program marks a significant milestone in the long battle to protect the Adirondacks from the destruction caused by acid rain," said Neil Woodworth, Adirondack Mountain Club executive director.

Adirondack Council Acting Executive Director Diane Fish said, "The newly created program will enable the use of modern science to speed the recovery of our lakes, rivers and wildlife from decades of abuse from Midwest smokestacks."

Cinergy failed to install technology for controlling sulfur emissions at its Midwestern coal-fired plants. In addition to providing funds for the recovery program, Cinergy agreed to modify its operations and control pollution at its power plants. Such steps have reduced sulfur emissions by 35,000 tons per year.

Schneiderman's office is involved with several other air quality-related legal battles. They are:

n A suit against current and former owners of a major Pennsylvania power plant -- Homer City Station -- over multiple Clean Air Act violations that cause more than 100,000 tons of sulfur pollution to enter New York. This is more than twice the amount of sulfur produced by all New York state power plants combined.

n Plans to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for violating the Clean Air Act by failing to address methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industry. EPA has determined that methane is a powerful climate change pollutant emitted by the industry in large quantities, but has failed to directly limit these emissions.

n The EPA last month adopted national air quality standards to protect the public from the effects of fine particulate matter, commonly known as "soot," as required under the federal Clean Air Act. Such steps were taken in response to legal action initiated by Schneiderman's office, the attorney general said.